Title: The Book Of Unwritten Tales 2
Platform: PC
Developer: KING Art
Publisher: Nordic Games
Release date: Out now
Family Focus: Click here for more information.
Point and click adventure games will always hold a special place in my heart (I’m sure I’ve said that before).
I grew up on a dose of Broken Sword, Discworld, Sam and Max and Leisure Suit Larry, and whilst there has been a resurgence of the style of game with titles like The Walking Dead, and The Wolf Among Us, there has never been a title that has really encapsulated that old-school style and charm quite right, until The Book Of Unwritten Tales 2.
I never played the original Book Of Unwritten Tales, but my time with its sequel has made me realise that I could have been missing out on something rather spectacular.
Set in a world that seems to have been birthed from a list of clichés and tropes, but in a way that’s very self-aware.
The game never takes itself seriously and knows that it’s a world full of fourth-wall breaking moments, nods to pop-culture and cheesy puns; but that is what makes it great. It’s a flash back to an age where the point-and-click genre could give you a few laughs, when it was all about putting octopuses in toilets (Discworld) and a dog and cat duo (Sam and Max), instead of going all zombie apocalypse or murder mystery on us.
When it comes to point and click games, the biggest pit-falls are the rare, insane puzzles (looking at you, goat from Broken Sword 1). Thankfully most of the puzzles are interesting and logical, with only a few moments that left me frustratingly scratching a dent into my head. The feeling that I need to “combine every item with every item†or “click everywhere on the screen†never surfaced, which is something that I am glad was left out of a point and click game that feels old-school in every other sense.
There is plenty of wandering between screens, and this is where I got a dose of the ‘old school point-and-click vibe’. You’ll find something on one end of the game world, and have to slowly dot your way back to where you needed to use it. Thankfully the environments are gorgeous, so it’s not too painful to wander back and forth between them.
The variety and detail put into the world leaves you wanting to explore deeper than the sections provided.
The game isn’t all about looks though, there is a lot of dialogue, and some of it incredibly ‘punny’, but the voice acting is a little hit and miss. Some characters are voiced fantastically well, whilst some are a littl
e rough enough to bring you out of the immersion.
I need to try and look beyond my sense of nostalgia for these kind of games, and look at The Book of Unwritten Tales on it’s own merits, rather than the sense of a time gone by it instils in me.
That being said, The Book Of Unwritten Tales 2 is a great experience. A journey full of humour, adventure, and some exceptionally silly moments, a game that won’t take itself too seriously but still deliver a compelling story in a world that’s a joy to be in.
What Rocks! :)
- Gorgeous to look at
- Plenty of humor to be found
- A lot of game to be played for the price
What Sucks :(
- Voice acting is a little wonky in places
- Idle walking times
Family Focus
The Book Of Unwritten Tales 2 Is an innocent enough adventure, although if children these days are anything like the way I was when I played old Point and Click games, they may get frustrated….although the internet does exist now….
